Timeline for Must a reversible engine be a carnot engine?
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| Sep 20, 2013 at 7:01 | comment | added | stochastic13 | @KieranCooney You are assuming that there are only four quasistaic processes in a reversible engine, but that is not true. You can design a reversible engine which performs several transitions, which may not be adiabatic and isothermal only. You may use a complex setup with several compartments and mechanical constraints which would ultimately complicate the PV loop of the system by including several processes unlike only 4 used in Carnot engine. But if it is reversible and operates between 2 reservoirs at different temperatures, it's efficiency must be = to Carnot efficiency. | |
| Sep 20, 2013 at 3:37 | comment | added | Kieran Cooney | Thanks for the detailed response. What exactly am I assuming that "might not be universally true"? | |
| Sep 20, 2013 at 1:44 | history | answered | stochastic13 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |